For as long as sheet metal has been utilized for buildings and like structures, the need for connection adjacent panels from such materials has been required. Since entire large structures cannot be constructed from single metal components, individual portions, in the way of panels, sheets, and the like, have been formed and then connected in various ways. The most prevalent manner of connection has been to place adjacent panel ends over one another and then physically deform the penal ends along a seam to thereby extend the resultant composite in a reliable fashion. Although soldering and screw-type mechanisms are possibilities for such needed connections, such alternatives, though reliable in their own right, are much more labor intensive and expensive in comparison to the above-noted deformation procedures.
As such, the typical manner of providing such physical seams to adjacent sheet metal (or like) panels has been a manual crimping device wherein the user places two juxtaposed ends of a crimping jaw over the two panel ends and manually closes the jaw to apply the needed degree of crimp to ensure proper folding and thus interaction between the panels for a reliable seam. Such a device must be utilized either along the entire panel end connection line to create the necessary water-tight and wind-protective seam, or in specific locations along a subject seam where the panels are connected to the base building structure through clips. In any event, such the utilization of such manual crimping devices requires the user to maneuver himself and the device into correct position and perform the jaw closing and opening for such a purpose over the entire connection line. Over the entire seam, then, being a manual device, the user is hard-pressed to perform uniform crimping over the length of the seam such that a uniform result is applied. Without substantial uniformity, the aesthetic qualities of the seam may be reduced as well as the possible overall protective nature of the seam could be compromised.
Furthermore, the greater the actual entanglement of the seam through excessive deformations of both panel ends, the stronger the overall seamed composite. Thus, if the panel ends are physically manipulated in such a manner as to secure the panel ends together as tightly as possible, then such a resultant seam would be less susceptible to wind updraft damage as and water leakage as the forces required to separate such a seam would be excessive themselves. With a lower degree of deformation of the seam, the easier a wind updraft could detach the panel ends. Likewise, as noted above, the looser the seam, the easier water may enter the construction interior there through, not to mention the easier water could penetrate the seam itself increasing the potential for rust formation and deterioration itself at such locations.
Currently, as alluded to previously, manual crimping devices requiring total user maneuvering and physical movement of the jaw components is the standard in the industry. Such a device allows for thorough deformation and crimping on demand by the user, although without guarantees of uniform application over an entire seam. Thus, although the capability of permitting effective seaming through manual crimping is possible with a relatively inexpensive manner of seaming in this manner, there are numerous drawbacks, unfortunately. For instance, the reliance upon intensive manual labor, particularly in terms of having a user not only apply the crimping action on his own, but also to do so while balancing on, for instance, a roof, creates a potentially hazardous situation not to mention the user would tire rather easily during such procedures. The physical demands on the user to properly align the crimper and then apply the proper pressure and torque to create the necessary crimp are significant and could cause a hazardous situation overall at the site. Even with certain improvements in cushioned handles and other like comfort modifications, there remain significant drawbacks and problems with such hand-held devices, particularly in terms of the intensive labor required for utilization. Furthermore, the difficulty for the user to uniformly apply such a crimping device to each location along a seam could cause significant problems for the overall seamed composite, as noted above. Additionally, such manual jaw-type devices are limited in terms of the total surface permitted for crimping with each procedure. Due to the potential difficulties a user may have manipulating such a crimper, particularly when stationed on a roof, such manual devices exhibit a rather small footprint, allowing the user from 4 to 8 inches of coverage during each crimping stage. Thus, the user is, as noted above, required to perform such a manual procedure multiple times over each panel end seam in order to accord the best engagement of panels possible.
Automatic devices have been developed to run along a length of contacted panel ends without any human involvement in order to quickly create a substantially uniform seam. Such devices include a mechanism to continuously engage and deform the subject panel ends directly as well as a motorized system for self-propulsion. Such prior machines have proven very effective and thorough, but they also require a initial crimp within the subject seam for proper placement and engagement of the apparatus with the target panel ends. Also, as noted above, some roof systems do not require a crimp along the entire seam with panel end deformations only necessary at specific clip locations wherein the roof panels become attached to the subject building. Thus, for some construction projects, these motorized automatic and self-propelled crimping devices would be superfluous, but all such projects would require a certain degree of crimping that today is undertaken manually for the most part. As well, the costs for such motorized and wheeled devices are rather high as compared with manual types.
There is one particular partially automatic crimping device, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,118, to Schultheiss, that includes two parallel crimpers present within the same overall machine. Such crimpers, however, are limited in their movements to providing, at best, 45 degree angles to the subject panel ends, thus leaving a rather loose engagement subsequent to completion of the crimping procedure. As such, although the overall device accords some degree of efficiency for the user by permitting seam creation for two separate lines simultaneously, the lack of total effective seam strength militates against utilization of such an automatic crimper overall.
Hence, there remains a distinct need to provide the sheet metal composite industry with a highly reliable and effective automatic crimping mechanism that can withstand repeated use and external environmental conditions, as well as repetitively crimp subject metal end panels to substantially the same degree, thereby according substantial uniformity over the entire resultant seam, and, importantly, all when provided in a manner that a user may undertake without any significant issues in terms of weight and/or cumbersomeness, thus allowing for use in various locations and from myriad angles without trouble. Unfortunately, to date, a part-automatic, part-manual crimping device of such type has yet to be provided the sheet metal composite/metal edifice construction industry.